Elio Mortgage raises $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI-native mortgage brokerage from the inside
Rather than sell software to existing lenders, the startup acquired Florida-based Hightide Mortgage and is pairing engineers directly with its own loan officers to automate document processing and income calculation.
Elio Mortgage, a startup building what it calls an AI-native mortgage brokerage, has raised $5.1 million in pre-seed funding led by Motive Partners and Social Leverage. The company was founded by Oren Michaely and Arad Lev Ari.
Rather than building software to license to existing mortgage lenders, Elio acquired Florida-based Hightide Mortgage, giving it a licensed brokerage operation it owns and operates directly. The company says this structure lets its engineers work alongside its own loan officers to build AI agents for administrative tasks such as document processing and income calculation, rather than retrofitting automation onto a third party’s existing workflow.
The bet behind owning the brokerage outright is that it gives Elio more control over operational economics and the borrower experience than a typical software vendor has, since the company captures the origination economics directly rather than charging lenders a subscription or per-loan fee.
Mortgage origination remains a highly manual, document-heavy process industry-wide, and Elio is one of several venture-backed entrants betting that AI can meaningfully cut the time and labor required to underwrite a loan. The company has not disclosed loan volume, headcount or a timeline for expanding beyond its initial Hightide Mortgage licenses.